Threats against the lives of a doctor and his co-workers led to the lockdown of a northeast Iowa hospital and landed one man in jail.

William Harrison Jr., 58, has been charged with a felony threat of terrorism and two counts of aggravated misdemeanor harassment after he allegedly made disturbing calls to Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah.

Additional charges are pending, according to the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office.

Harrison, online court records show, told an emergency room receptionist around 12:30 p.m. Saturday that he "could shoot" a doctor who worked there and "all of you will be dead."

Harrison reportedly told the woman that mental health background checks were "stopping (expletive) like me from getting a gun." He also allegedly said he wanted to come to the ER and make those employees feel the terror he feels.

An hour later, Harrison is said to have again called the ER with threats. On a third call to the ER shortly after, he spoke with a reserve deputy who happened to be present. Harrison reportedly toned down the violent rhetoric in that call, but still ranted about "various things," court records state.

The trio of calls caused a two-day lockdown at the hospital, during which services were available, but under some modification. Jenna Haynes, who works in the hospital's marketing department, said the ER was still open during the lockdown. Haynes said she could not comment on what "modification" to hospital processes took place or what safety measures were installed to protect staff.

Authorities had trouble initially tracking who made the calls until Decorah police received a report of more threats in the city four days later. Northeast Iowa Behavioral Health officials at that time said a male caller had made "vague threats about shooting places up" and harming himself.

A Decorah police officer learned from Northeast Iowa Behavioral Health that the caller lived in Allamakee County and was mentioning drugs, the Pentagon and global warming in his rants.

The caller was identified as Harrison and officers used phone records to find his rural Decorah home in the 100 block of Old Spruce Drive. He was arrested Thursday without incident after arrest and search warrants were served. Harrison is being held on a $25,000 bond.

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